Cleared Of Sex Harassment Charge, Yet Scarred For Life

My word

October 27, 1991|By L.G.

I sat stunned, trying to comprehend what the squadron commander had just told me. ''Sexual harassment!'' I wasn't even sure I knew what the phrase meant, but I was accused of it. And my life was to be irretrievably altered.

When the day of my interview with the investigator arrived, I learned Sgt. Smith (not her real name) charged that I was biased against women in the military, that I had unfairly downgraded women's performance reports, and that I used more serious disciplinary measures when women were involved.

As the investigation progressed, it was alleged that I had said there should be no pregnant women in uniform. What I had actually said was that it was not a good situation when the men in my unit had to tolerate extra tours away from home because their pregnant female counterparts were ineligible. I had also said I didn't like limiting duty around potentially dangerous chemicals (part of our mission) to men because the assigned women were pregnant, and could not be assigned there. Others corroborated my statements, and the investigator cleared me of this charge.

On this issue of downgrading performance reports, the investigator found I had given a low rating on a female sergeant's report after she refused to accept a 90-day assignment out of the country. All the people in her section rotated through the assignment, but she did everything, including starting a Congressional inquiry, to keep from going. Her supervisor, a female master sergeant, made the decision to lower the rating, and I concurred. I was cleared on No. 2.

Finally, Sgt. Smith alleged I gave her a reprimand because I didn't like her. My detailed records showed I had given her a legal order that she had expressly refused to obey. She had even told others in the unit that she would not do as directed. The penalty I proposed was a reprimand, far short of the court-martial she could have received. And I was cleared on the third count.

What is the point of this story? Sexual harassment takes many forms, and I was a victim of an insidious, name-destroying attack. I write today anonymously, because the fact I was once accused could jeopardize my employment.

Sexual harassment, or any inhumane treatment for that matter, must not be condoned. But the political climate and gender-sensitive laws it has spawned over the past decade have turned our presumption-of-innocence tradition into guilt by virtue of accusation. We saw the ugly result on our televisions earlier this month. Regardless of the facts, and only the principals know what they are, Justice Clarence Thomas will never again have a clear name.

Once a man has been accused of sexual harassment, he can never be fully comfortable with work relationships with women again. There is always the gnawing doubt that he will say or do something that will offend, knowing full well there are militant feminists who are just waiting to take offense.

Certainly, there are legitimate cases of harassment; they must be investigated and resolved. But Americans must demand confidential investigations and guarantees that the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused. Since my case was handled confidentially, I do not suffer the public humiliation Justice Clarence Thomas faces, but the wound is just as deep.